Defense Communities 360 Headlines

The new chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee says he is aiming to pass the federal government’s 12 spending bills for fiscal 2016 individually but concedes chances are good he’ll be forced to bundle some measures to move them through the chamber. “Try as we might, we’re going to end up with some bills grouped together, probably, to expedite the consideration of them all,” Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) told CQ. Cochran also stressed the need to start crafting spending bills early to avoid the need to resort to continuing resolutions and omnibus bills to keep the government open …

Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions, a senior member of the Senate Armed Services and Budget committees, says the bar will be relatively high for fiscal conservatives to sign off on an agreement to relax the Budget Control Act cap on defense spending. “I believe if people want to raise the defense cap, then they’re going to have to justify it,” Sessions told DefenseNews. “We’re going to have to talk about it, and we’re going to have to go to more than just general rhetoric but specific justifications because it doesn’t do any good to have … the Budget Control Act if we’re not going to adhere to it but [for] a year or two …

With Republicans assuming control of the Senate, Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) will chair the Senate Military Construction-Veterans Affairs Appropriations Subcommittee in the 114th Congress. Kirk previously had been the panel’s ranking member. Illinois has three major installations — Naval Station Great Lakes, Scott Air Force Base and Rock Island Arsenal. Last week, the committee’s Democrats announced that Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) will be the milcon panel’s ranking member. Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), who will serve as the full committee chairman, has not formally announced the cardinals for each of the 12 panels, but the Republican conference ratified the selections, reported CQ. Cochran also will take the gavel for the defense appropriations subcommittee, with Dick Durbin (Ill.) remaining the senior Democrat on the panel.

ADC this year is revamping the process for nominating members to its board of directors and introducing new criteria for selecting candidates. The moves are intended to establish more formal policies for selecting directors, while ensuring the board features “the best and brightest” of the association’s members. Most significantly, the nominations committee no longer will focus on maintaining an equal balance among members from base redevelopment communities (LRAs), active defense communities and the private sector. The nominations committee, which is being chaired by past president Bob Murdock, now will strive to ensure that a simple majority of the board is from the public sector …

The North Carolina Military Business Center (NCMBC) last week celebrated its 10th year of helping firms in the state capture defense contracts. NCMBC is the only statewide military business center in the nation, said Executive Director Scott Dorney. “No other state dedicates the resources that North Carolina does to growing the military economy, expanding our tax base and creating jobs for people across the state — while supporting our military with the critical products that they need to train, fight and win America’s conflicts …

New Orleans has ended veteran homelessness altogether, going a step beyond other major cities that have only ended chronic homelessness among veterans, according to Mayor Mitch Landrieu. Last July, Landrieu pledged that the city would find homes for all veterans living on the streets, a figure estimated at 193, reported the Independent. Last week, the mayor announced the city had found housing for 227 homeless veterans. More than 300 local, county and state officials have joined a White House initiative to end veteran homelessness by the end of 2015, with several already declaring victory, including Phoenix and Salt Lake City …

The Army is reconsidering a plan to transfer thousands of acres at the former Umatilla Chemical Depot in northern Oregon to the site’s local redevelopment authority at no cost. The Columbia Development Authority, formerly the Umatilla Army Depot Reuse Authority, had planned on obtaining up to 9,500 acres via a no-cost economic development conveyance, with 3,000 acres designated for industrial development. The LRA doesn’t have the resources to purchase the site, reported the East Oregonian. “It was a pretty significant reversal from what we had been told up until last month,” project manager Don Chance told the authority’s board …

Two Army installations recently have opened their family housing to military retirees and DOD civilians in an effort to raise occupancy rates. Last month, Corvias Military Living started allowing military retirees, DOD civilians and the families of slain soldiers to apply to live on Fort Bragg, N.C. Last week, housing officials there said they would accept DOD civilians who are single and service members at the rank of sergeant in an on-base apartment complex, reported the Fayetteville Observer. Those apartments previously were available only to service members with a rank of E-6 or higher …

If you fancy yourself an aficionado of inside-the-Beltway goings-on and are interested in helping ADC develop its policy strategy for 2015, consider joining the association’s Federal Outreach Advisory Committee (FOAC). FOAC develops ADC’s yearly legislative and policy priorities and advises the House and Senate Defense Community Caucuses. FOAC is divided into two subcommittees — one for active base communities and one for base redevelopment communities. To join FOAC, you must be an active ADC member in good standing and be willing to participate in regular conference calls. If you are interesting in submitting a nomination to join, contact Paul Kalomiris at (202) 822-5256 x440 or pkalomiris@defensecommunities.org. Paul rejoined the ADC staff in December after serving in multiple capacities over the past 15 years. He now serves as senior policy adviser.

While solar power may not be viable in Alaska, officials at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage are generating a significant share of their energy needs through renewable sources. A landfill gas plant on the installation generates more than 56,000 megawatt-hours, or 26 percent of the installation’s electrical load, relying on the Anchorage municipal solid waste landfill adjacent to the base, reported the joint base’s public affairs office. The plant, which primarily uses methane, is allowing the installation to exceed a federal goal of obtaining 7.5 percent of its electric consumption from renewable sources …